CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1510651
22 November 2023 910.484.8108 | www.sullivanshighland.com 610 Ramsey Street, Fayetteville, NC 28301 Family is at the heart of everything we do. ~ Karen Sullivan Mercer and Edward Mercer FUNERAL SERVICES ~ CREMATION ~ PRENEED HigHland Funeral Service & crematory, inc. SULLIVAN'S having the time of their lives," Cameron said. "ey are smiling." He thought the concept of Friendship House was something needed in Fayetteville. Instead of seminary students, however, it could be medical students who are paired with tenants with disabilities. Cameron and Tara Hinton, who worked at Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation and has a daughter with autism, visited Friendship House in Durham. "Aer seven hours traveling to see it, touring it and asking all of the questions, Scott, Avery and I started sketching out the idea to bring it to Fayetteville literally on napkins at a restaurant. We knew we could do this," says Hinton, who now is director of regional philanthropy at ServiceSource. Cameron and Hinton started the groundwork to set up a nonprofit organization and get their plans on paper before presenting the idea to ServiceSource, which works with adults with disabilities to create inclusive communities. "It went from a pie-in-the-sky idea to starting the fundraising for the reality," Cameron says. He graduated from Duke Divinity in 2016 and was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in 2017. By then, Friendship House was in full swing. Fundraising campaigns at Highland Presbyterian and Cape Fear Regional eatre and a chef 's auction and other engagements helped them quickly spread the word. ey raised the $1.3 million they needed in less than nine months. According to Hinton, there are now a dozen other Friendship Houses focused on health care and medical students as mentors. "e best part about all of this is that our residents are there as resident mentors and friends, not caretakers, and our disabled friends are learning to live on their own, maximizing their interdependence," Hinton says. Cameron says the experience of living with roommates with disabilities has made him a better doctor because he has more empathy. "It allows you to look at life differently and leads to better understanding," Cameron said. Five years aer its opening, Friendship House can celebrate success with local gatherings, new friendships, and even the marriage of two residents. Cameron officiated the wedding. Scott Cameron meets with a Friendship House resident at The Grange, where a farmers market is staged in summer.